Nearly $3000 worth of funding will go towards improving education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics across the Goldfields, thanks to fundraising efforts from the WA School of Mines and its annual mining calendar.

Now in its second year, the calendar competition encourages students to think about the mining industry and raises money for the Goldfields Education and Mining Industry Alliance.

Each student across the Goldfields will receive a calendar and GEMIA project officer Penne Kozlowski said the competition was a great way to get students to challenge themselves creatively and to raise funds.

“All students of the Goldfields are able to enter and we had nearly 500 submissions from students across the region,” she said.

“The funding will be spent on equipment for our library, so all schools across the Goldfields can borrow our science equipment to use in their classrooms.”

WASM director Sam Spearing said the calendar was about raising the profile of the mining industry and embracing the community.

“The competition is for all of the students in the region,” he said.

“We encourage all classes to have a picture-drawing competition. We want to get school students from an early age to start thinking about mining.”